Which FWD drivetrain donor?

I'm doing a bit of brainstorming and could use some help. Are there any FWD drivetrains that meet the following criteria?

1.) track width of around 53"-55" ish.

2.) cable-shifted manual trans

3.) reasonably easy/cheap to find in a junkyard

4.) capable of 150-200hp w/o turbo

5.) engine/trans/suspension/cradle can be removed as a unit

And as a bonus:

6.) has a limited-slip available(stock or aftermarket)

7.) is physically small/compact

Is there anything that fits the bill? I'm not familiar with many FWD cars that were cable-shifted, VR6 dubs come to mind, but I was hoping for something a little less troublesome.

WHP or Crank? A Saturn motor would meet most of your requirements, except the track is around 57". It will be one of the lightest options, but maybe not the smallest. Why the track width issue? Can different offset wheels be used/geometry be adjusted to keep it narrower?

To be honest though, I think almost all the early 90s econobox drive trains are going to be a little too wide (most seem to be around 57-58 inches), but should meet the rest of your requirements, with the exception of Hondas (worth too much to be easily found in a junkyard). I can't think of anything that would be that narrow but still make that much power without boost.

Tricky quest with the track width.......could always narrow a subframe and axles to work though ;)

Building a middie Locost are we?

Saab 900

Something Honda-ish?

If the wheels don't have to turn and you have flexibility to move stuff round to balance weight you might be able to use pretty much anything with a pair of whichever side axle is the short one. Two lefts or two rights or whatever so you take some track width out without having to actually fabricate anything. It would move the engine off center, but battery and gas tank and such have to go somewhere and might just offset the weight shift.

There could be workarounds for the track width. I was more concerned about finding something cable-shifted?

2.4L + Neon 5spd?

I assume you are referrig to a two cable setup? PT Cruisers are cable shifted, the K car is and so are a lot of Hondas etc. I haven't looked at late VW stuff, but the '80's/'90's setup was two rods which can easily be adapted to a cable setup. A selector rod linkage transmission could be easily adapted for middie use, too. Yes, I've thought about this.

If you could find one, SHO?

Some hondas are cable shifted. Preludes come to mind.

In reply to petegossett:

The 90-91 Passat with a 2.0 16V (9A) and the manual was cable shifted (02A tranny) and has hydro clutch. The package comes out as a complete drivetrain and they are not too hard to find. Getting to your target power is relatively straight forward. Its track is wider than your needs but all the Golf 2 and 3 bits are interchangeable with it and there is a lot of aftermarket support and block swaps to either 1.8 (e.g. PL) or 2.0 tall blocks (e.g. ABA) are easy should the desire arise.

Here is a pic of my old 8V drivetrain just before going back in my GTI.

another consideration is the clutch actuator system... mid/rear engine means a hydro system is pretty stinkin helpful...

as for width WOW thats narrow...

mkI mr2 had a 56" track, mkIII spyder a 57.5

A neon/stratus or older K-based drivetrain with Chryco inboard CV joints and Fiat X-1/9 axles will get you a very narrow track, 53" I believe. Barely wider than the drivetrain itself :)

The Neon and late K-car transaxles are cable shifted with the side-side movement situated on top of the transaxle, making it fairly easy to route the cables.

A pull-type clutch slave is pretty easy to mount in the clutch arm. The clutch arms are just steel, so fabricating a different style isn't an impossibility.

The 2.0L DOHC neon started at 150hp out of the box.

not sure on the width.. but the drivetrain out of a Hyundai tiburon/elantra seems to fit the bill. Cable shifted, hydraulic clutch.. and it has 140hp out of the box it came in...

petegossett wrote: There could be workarounds for the track width. I was more concerned about finding something cable-shifted?

I think a lot of stuff is cable shifted, no?

The Saturn motor is cable shifted with a hydro clutch. There should be about 34190348109348 of them in your local junkyard. The subframe/engine/trans/steering rack/front suspension can be dropped and rolled away as one piece. It's also stupid light, which is a bonus.

But there's no limited slip available for the Saturn, is there?

And then there's the problem of making the power without a turbo.

I'm going to side with Neon here. No, the engine and trans don't mount to the subframe, but that can be fixed.

F22 out of an accord. Built as solid as a rock, literally a dime a dozen. Makes good power stock and can make ridiculous power via turbo or N/A.

Knurled wrote: But there's no limited slip available for the Saturn, is there? And then there's the problem of making the power without a turbo. I'm going to side with Neon here. No, the engine and trans don't mount to the subframe, but that can be fixed.

Mfactory and Quaife both make Saturn limited slips. If you aren't willing to open the motor or boost it... no, its only going to make around 135whp. If you are willing to do work inside the engine it should make plenty. A FSP build should net around 160 at the wheels, and I've seen road race cars make close to 200, without turbo. There are several frankenstein budget options for power if you playing in the junkyard as well.

The Neon definitely has the power advantage, and is also readily available. I guess it depends what you want to fix... no motor that I know of is going to meet all of the requirements in the OP.

Smart is the right width, but is built for the rear, and has its "automated manual" transmission. Power is way short too. On the other hand, there are people out there doing Hayabusa swaps.

Don't know about the width but the Zetec with MT75 out of a Focus seems to fit the other requirements. Cable shifted with LSD available (I have a Torsen in mine). Also has many aftermarket performance parts available for the engine.

Wait there are FWD cars that aren't cable shifted?

Volvo 850 is ~60" N/A makes 168 Hp/170 Tq is cable shifted and Quafie makes a LSD for it.

A turbo variant is up to 250 Hp/243 Tq depending on the model, you won't find a turbo manual though, you'd have to source a N/A trans or go with a slightly wider S70.

Mixing Axles or Making axles you could make just about anything you wanted to work.

• Lee

I've pondered the same question. Most of the engines noted don't come with or else rarely come with LSD.

Sure several have aftermarket LSDs available but at a higher cost than the buy in on the whole engine & transaxle.